FLOODS CAUSE HAVOC

Chronicle (Levin), 9 June 1947, Page 5

FLOODS CAUSE HAVOC

Press Assn.

Eighteen Deaths and HeaVy Damage In America -

By Tdlegraph

-Copyright

ReCeived Monday, 10.30 a.m. NEW YORK, June 8. With the rivers still rising, the deathroll m the central st&tes thounted ea.> this morning .to l3. The flbbds and tornadoes which preceded th'em have left more than 16,000 homeless and caused m&n,y thousands of dollars' damage' tb pfoperty. Swollen rivers soilled over tlieiibtlnks in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska and KanTwisted bridges and landslides have clit off several main highways and raiiways. * . At QUindy, IllihdiSj the Mississippi Ivas swollen to the redord height of the 1944 flood. Sixty thousand, s&nd oags have been rushed to Quincy tb bolster th'e levels holding the water back. The United States Weathef Bureau forecast a major Mississippi River flood. Flood warnings were issued also for the Missouri River. At Ottumwa, Iowa, one-third of the population of 32,000 was driven from their homes by flood waters, and 100 are stranded on rooftops and high ground. Ottumwa's business is virtually at a standstill, with the power off and big industrial plants flooded. Red Cross >and State and miinicipal offlcials are"* evacuating families ffom the most threateiied sections bordering the Mississippi River in case the giant levees hblding back tlie water should break. The water is gradually rising and is only a fraction of an inch under the previous recotd of 1944. The weather forfefcasters expect the crest of the flood wili be reached Dn Monday Qf .Tiiesday.